New Girl in Lyoko
by WriterOfOddFics
Summary: A new girl comes to Kadics school and is sucked into the lives of Ulrich and Yumi. Yumi loves Ulrich, but does Ulrich like the new girl? And what's up with Jeremie? He's been quieter than usual.. Pairings: UxY, OxA, and JxS, no not Sissi, don't worry
1. Ch 1 Confessions

Chapter 1 - Confessions

It was a Monday, the first day back to school for the gang, and Yumi was sitting on her bed, drawing a picture of Ulrich in her notebook. Ulrich walked up to her house and came right in. He went up the stairs quietly, wanting to surprise Yumi. Yumi could hear him perfectly, she just chose to ignore him. Ulrich lightly knocked on her door. "Come in, it's not locked," Yumi replied, not lifting her head.

Ulrich walked in, and Yumi looked up. She blushed slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ulrich! I thought you were my mom or something! My mistake!"

"Are you having a bad day, Yumi?" Ulrich asked.

"Yeah, and I told her to leave me alone. So, what's on your mind?"

"Well, have you seen Emily lately?"

"Why?"

"Well, I just wanted to know if you'd seen her over the summer or anything."

Yumi thought to herself, _He can't be over me already! _"No, in fact I did see her over the summer, but only once."

"Where?" Ulrich asked, looking a little too interested.

"At the mall on the fifth day of summer. She was looking for strapless shirts. I waved. She gave me a half-smile. That's all. Why do you want to know all this?"

"Oh, no reason," Ulrich said, trying to sound innocent.

"Sure, whatever. Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?" _Like about our relationship, or a date, or a quick hug. Something!_

"Well...I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

"A school dance is coming up in December…I think. Uh…what's a good outfit to wear for impressing girls?"

_Great, he probably doesn't want to bring me after all. _"I haven't had time to think about that yet. But I'll get back to you with that, I promise." _Why is he so shy? Why can't he just come right out and ask me to the dance? Well, I can't actually blame him. I'd be shy about asking him to a dance…any dance! _

"Well, okay. I guess I'll see you later. I don't want to get in trouble with Jim for being caught off school grounds, and on the first day at that."

"Actually, the school-day's over. It's after school. But, yeah, it'd still be bad."

"Yeah…so, I guess I'll see you later."

"I guess so."

"Well, see you later, Yumi."

"'Bye. And close the door on your way out."

"Will do." He walked out the door, leaving it slightly ajar. He then proceeded down the stairs and out the door. Just as he got out the door he bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you…and I was just coming out…" he rambled.

"There's no need to apologize," the girl said. "Is this Yumi Isiyama's house?"

"Yeah. Are you looking for her?"

"Yes, actually. We have Communication and Language Arts block together. I was wondering if she could help me understand Mr. Johnson's expectations list."

"I'm sure she could help you. And you are…?"

"Starry, Starry Stone. I'm new here."

"Ah, that must be hard to learn all the rules and procedures of the school in one whole week."

"ONLY A WEEK!" Starry exclaims. Yumi went to her window and peered out. _Why is the new girl talking to Ulrich? I need to know what's going on. I'm going out there. _She got out of her bed and tiptoed downstairs. Then she peeked through the curtains.

"Calm down, Starry. It'll be all right, really. It's not that hard, once you get used to it."

"Get used to what?" Yumi said, opening the door.

"Oh, hi, Yumi!" Ulrich replied calmly. "You know Starry from CA and LA block, right? Well, she needs help going over Mr. Johnson's expectations. Then she got all worried about memorizing the school rules in only a week."

"I see," Yumi said, trying to filter that all through her head at once. _All she needs is help with a few expectations and a dozen or so rules? Puh-lease! _"Sorry, I'm busy."

"How? When I was there you were just doodling in her notebook like usual," Ulrich challenged.

"For your information I wasn't doodling, I was drawing a picture of…a friend. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to…do some laundry," Yumi said, sort of aggravated. With that she slammed the door shut and stomped up to her room.

"What's her problem?" Ulrich said.

"FYI, whoever you are, all girls are very emotional, even if it seems like they're not," Starry spoke up. "Even if a girl rarely ever talks, she still has feelings. One wrong move from anyone, and she'll start to act differently. If you're the one that's ticked her off, then watch out. She rush past you in the hallway, she ignore you when you talk to her, and so forth. Are you going out with Yumi?" Starry asked, suddenly.

Ulrich blushed a deep red. "Well…"

"I see," Starry said knowingly. "I guess I'll see you later. Oh, and what was your name so I'll know?"

"It's…it's Ulrich," he replied nervously.

"All right. 'Bye, Ulrich!"

"Uh, 'bye," he replied as she walked away. _She's kinda cute _he suddenly thought to himself. _No, no Ulrich! You like Yumi, remember? Or is it love? _He blushed to himself even thinking the word. _I sure wish I knew why she was so mad. Well...let's see...what could I have done? First I asked about Emily - drat, I probably made it sound like I like her or something! Then I asked about wearing something to impress the girls - I saw her scowl slightly when I said that..._

While Ulrich was going over all that he'd done in his head, Yumi had stomped up the stairs, flopped back on her bed, glanced at the picture she'd been drawing, frowned at it, crumpled it up, and threw it in the trash. _Am I over him? I don't even know anymore. I'm so confused! I need someone to talk to - a girl that understands where I'm coming from. _

Ulrich trudged back to the dorms, hoping that he would get up the nerve to apologize and that if he did, that she wouldn't yell at him. Starry stealthily slipped out of the bush she'd been hiding in and rang the doorbell to the Ishiyama house once Ulrich was out of sight. Yumi sighed and slowly descended the stairs, then opened the door, spitting, "What do you want?"

"Hi! I still need help with the rules and procedures, and I know you're not busy," Starry said quickly. _She talks really fast _Yumi thought to herself.

"Who says I'm not busy?"

"Well, you got to the door pretty quickly. Besides, if you really were busy, one of your parents would have gladly answered the door, I bet."

"C'mon in," Yumi finally said, reluctantly. Starry timidly stepped in, shutting the door gently behind her. _Wait - I've missed it all along _Yumi realized. _I think that Starry is the girl I should talk to! She must be my miracle - or something resembling a miracle at least. _  
"Starry-" Yumi started.

"Are you okay?" Starry interrupted. "You look like you could just break down and cry."

"You really think so?" Yumi asked self-consciously.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Starry answered with a question of her own.

"Yes, well, not want, exactly, but rather need...I am so confused!"

"Oh, I see..." Starry said, starting to become confused herself. "Let's go somewhere private so you can tell me."

"My room's as good as it'll get here," Yumi replied, ascending the steps again with Starry not far behind. Once they got into Yumi's room, she fell onto her bed, weeping bitterly. Starry tried to comfort her, but she did no good. _These two are my perfect chance to play matchmaker. First, to help Yumi out and make her stop crying, then talk to Ulrich, convincing him to apologize for whatever he did, then, if Yumi is as emotional as I have assumed, she will start crying once the words 'I'm sorry' leave Ulrich's lips. That'll be the perfect chance for him to comfort her - she looks so helpless when she cries, it must melt a guy's heart! _

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Yumi said, trying to regain her composure.

"No, it's quite all right. Everyone just has to cry sometimes. But about what?" Starry replied, trying to get the reason for her sadness out of her.

"Well..." Yumi started.

"Yes?"

"Oh, it's all just so confusing and stupid. I mean, why should I really care? He's just a guy! Oh, but I do care! Ever so much, I care!" Yumi said, voicing her thoughts. "I love Ulrich, Starry, I really do. I've always wondered if he feels the same. Ever since I first met him, I've just been so intranced. Sometimes when it looks like he likes another girl, like Emily or something, I try to get over him. It's easy to put him out of my thoughts, but not my heart. I'm just so hopelessly in love, Starry, and I have no idea why I'm telling somewhat of a total stranger my innermost thoughts, but I just really need to let all of my feelings out - and my only friends are guys because the girls at this school are snobs. But I can't confide things that only girls understand in guys! And it's about a guy, for crying out loud!" Yumi rambled on like this for quite some time. Starry just sat there, listening intently and storing away every detail in a folder of her mind she liked to call, 'Yumi and Ulrich - The Perfect Couple, if only they knew'.

When Yumi finally concluded her rambling, she launched into new sobs, pouring fresh tears. Starry couldn't handle any more of this, "Well, why don't you just tell him what you really feel?"

"Do you really think someone could just walk up to someone they have deeply loved in secret for so long and bluntly say, 'I love you'?" Yumi spat, trying to hold back even more tears.

"No, but you should at least explain why you were upset if he apologizes." _Which he will _Starry added to herself.

"Okay, I think I will," Yumi said, half-confidently.

"I think I'll just leave you be now," Starry said.

"Thanks," Yumi said as Starry exited the room, "for listening and caring."

"No problem," Starry replied, "it's just what I do." She closed the door and headed downstairs, then out the door. _There was phase 1. Next I speak with Ulrich. First, I have to find him though.. _Her thoughts wandered as she headed back to the dorms, just in time, because a steady mist had begun on the grounds.


	2. Ch 2 A Discussion

Chapter 2 - A Discussion

Starry finally reached the dorms and calmly walked up the stairs to Ulrich's dorm, slightly wet with the new mist falling outside. She didn't know exactly where Ulrich's dorm was, but she just figured she'd know it when she saw it. Just then she heard loud rock-n-roll music coming from down the hall and someone singing, "Big, big, big dance! Big, big, big dance!" over and over again. _I'm sure that's it. Although I didn't think Ulrich would sound that bad when he sang! _She walked down the hall and pulled the door open, revealing the room within. It was Ulrich's room, all right, but another boy with blonde hair with a purple spot in the middle was dancing around the room, with only his boxers and a t-shirt with a picture of a dog on it on. "Ulrich -" she started.

Ulrich turned around to see Starry standing at the doorway. "Shoot, Odd, put some pants on, Starry's here!" Odd turned as well and, spotting Starry, blushed a bright crimson and ducked in the corner, pulling his pants on. A dog barked at her, and Ulrich hushed it, calling it 'Kiwi'. _What an odd name for a dog _Starry thought to herself. "So, what did you want?" Ulrich asked. "And how did you know that this was my - uh, our - dormroom?"

"A gut feeling, I guess, and I needed to talk to you about Yumi," she replied in one breath, it seemed.

"Yumi? What about? Is she mad at me?" Ulrich blurted out.

"Well, sort of, it's confusing. Would you mind if we talked, uh, alone?" She gestured towards the boy she now knew as Odd, sitting in the corner with his pants finally on and the dog, Kiwi, in his lap.

"No, I don't mind. Odd, I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay, later Ulrich!" Odd said, turning his music back on and jumping back up to sing. "Yeah! Big, big, big dance! Big, big, big dance!" Kiwi barked like he was singing along, and Starry and Ulrich headed down the hall, away from all of the noise.

"So, what's up? I mean, with Yumi," Ulrich stated once they were far enough away that you could hardly hear the music blaring from the speakers in their room. _Odd should really turn that music down. It's too late to be playing music that loud! _

"She going through a very hard time right now. She's confused and got very mixed feelings. I understand that you'd talked to her earlier, when you were coming out of her house and I bumped into you?"

"Yeah, I had talked to her. Why?"

"What did you say to her? Or ask her?"

"I asked about Emily and outfits to wear that would impress girls."

"And you like Yumi?"

"Yeah..." he admitted, blushing. _That's twice now that I've admitted that, in the same day! Why am I admitting all of this to this new girl? _

"So, maybe you were implying that you didn't like her, so..."

"Awe, shoot, I knew it! So that's why she's mad at me. But I don't understand...she doesn't like me..."

"Don't be so quick to assume things you don't know," Starry interrupted.

"So she does like me?"

"I didn't say that..."

"Then I guess I'm assuming again, aren't I?"

"Maybe."

"You're a very mysterious girl, and that's just putting it bluntly," Ulrich said.

"Why, thank you!" Starry replied. Ulrich gave her an odd look.

"What do you think I should do?"

"Hmm..." Starry said, feigning thinking up a solution. "You should apologize, for one thing. She's going through a lot of emotional stress..."

"Of course!" Ulrich exclaimed. "You're a genius! Thank you so much!" He grinned, then added, "Hey, does she really like me?"

"Can't reveal anything until this whole mess has been cleaned up. And it could get cleaned up a whole lot faster if you'd just apologize..."

Ulrich, taking the hint, said, "Thank you so much!" once again, then he ran out into the pouring rain towards the Ishiyama house, hoping that Yumi loved him as much as he loved her, or at least that this would all turn out right at the end.


	3. Ch 3 Poured Out Like the Rain

Chapter 3 - Poured Out Like The Rain

Ulrich got to the Ishiyama house and politely rang the doorbell. In an instant Mrs. Ishiyama answered the door. A worried look was on her face. "Hello Ulrich. What can I do for you?"

The slightly-drenched boy replied, "Could I speak to Yumi? It's important."

"I'm sorry dear, but..." Mrs. Ishiyama faltered, "...she's not here. We don't know where she is and..." A tear slipped down her cheek. _This is all my fault! _Ulrich accused himself. _Wait! The last time Yumi was very upset she hid at...that's it!_

Ulrich didn't let her finish. "I bet I know where she is!" he exclaimed, then ran back into the rain, leaving Mrs. Ishiyama with a reply on her lips that never was voiced but to the pouring rain. He ran through the cold, wet city streets, knowing exactly where Yumi was hiding. He reached the bridge to the factory, all the time with one thing on his mind - Yumi. He gripped the rope tightly with his damp hands and slowly swung down to the floor below. Unfortunately, his grip wasn't good enough because his hands were too slick, and he slipped off of the rope and came crashing down to the ground below.

"Ulrich!" Yumi cried, running to him from her hiding place inside the motionless elevator. He struggled and strained to get up, but she calmed him, helping to support him so he could stand. She then led him over to the place where she'd been sitting, and they huddled in the corner next to each other. At first, Yumi blushed from their closeness, but Ulrich didn't seem to mind, so she figured that she shouldn't mind either. "Ulrich, are you okay?"

Ulrich winced in pain. "I am, but my arm certainly isn't. I think it's" he winced again "broken."

"Here, let me help," Yumi took off the shawl she'd had around her shoulders and used it to make a make-shift sling for him. She gingerly tied it around his arm, being careful not to put too much pressure on it and hurt him. Once her work was through, she leaned against the wall again.

"Thanks," Ulrich said, giving her a small smile. "Now...why did you come out here..."

_Oh no, not that! _"I just...I'm going through a confusing time right now, Ulrich. It's like an emotional roller-coaster ride, my heart's out of control - I don't know what to think anymore!" She felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she figured they must be, otherwise Ulrich wouldn't be giving her the look he was just now.

"Is it about..." he lowered his voice, "..me?"

Yumi suddenly burst into tears. Ulrich was in a state of shock and panic. What would someone do if they found them down here alone, one with a broken arm and the other crying? What would they think? _Awe, heck! _Ulrich thought to himself. _The others don't matter right now. I don't even matter right now. The only thing that matters right now - the only person - is Yumi. I've gotta help her out! Oh, why did I have to open my big mouth? Maybe I get it from Odd, except for whenever I get in trouble for my mouth, it's for anger or serious things, he's always just cracking jokes or flirting with- Oh nevermind! I've gotta help Yumi! _He put his unbroken arm around her. "Shh, Yumi, please," he cooed, trying to calm her. "Please, Yumi, I hate to see you cry.."

She suddenly hugged him tightly. "Oh, Ulrich, I'm so sorry!" she wailed.

"For what?"

"For messing up your life!"

"Wait...what? What'd you do?"

"You didn't have to come down here. The only reason you came is because of me. And because of me your arm's broken. Because of me you're sitting down here, in the cold, listening to me ramble on, and you won't get to sleep, and then people could get worried..." She would've gone on and on, but Ulrich put a finger to her lips.

"Shh, Yumi. Please. It'll be okay, I promise. We're going to get you home so that there will be no worry - nothing bad will happen, I promise."

_Don't make a promise you can't keep _Yumi thought bitterly. She was in emotional stress and had no idea what to think about anything anymore. Of course, she didn't voice her bitter thoughts. "Let's get you home," Ulrich said, helping the still-sobbing girl up and they found the back stairway and walked up it to the main street. On the way back to Yumi's house, many more tears were shed. Ulrich just couldn't take the sight of her crying anymore. He wiped a tear away from her cheek and said, "Yumi."

"Yes," she sniffled, "Ulrich?"

"I - care about you. I really don't like the sight of you crying. That may have sounded selfish, but when people cry, it usually means they are sad," _That sounded stupid _he thought to himself. "And when people are sad, the people that care about them feel sad too, because someone they care about is upset - sometimes they don't even know why so they can't help - and they try to help...and sometimes it just gets worse...I don't know where I'm going with this...but please stop crying, Yumi." He gently kissed her forehead.

She sniffled again. "Thanks, Ulrich."

He grinned. When they reached her house, he rang the doorbell. Mrs. Ishiyama answered, and when she saw Yumi she embraced her tightly, crying herself. "Now, Mom. I care about you. And when you care about someone, you don't like to see them cry." Ulrich grinned at this.

Her mom smiled as well. "I'm not sad, dear. I'm happy. Happy that you're back." She hugged her even tighter. "Thank you so much, Ulrich, for finding her."

He just grinned, said, "Good night, Mrs. Ishiyama. Good night, Yumi," and started walking back to the dorm.

"Wait!" Yumi yelled, before she knew what she was doing.

"Yes?" he turned.

She ran out to him, and kissed his cheek in the middle of the pouring rain. "Thanks again." She returned to her house, flashed him one last smile, and went inside.

_She likes me! She really likes me! Or was that just a polite "thank you for helping me come to my senses" kiss? I don't care! Yumi kissed me! _Ulrich practically skipped the rest of the way to his dorm, thinking of nothing but Yumi.


	4. Ch 4 Back at the Dorm

A/N: when you see ":" (without the quotation marks) that means that that's someone's dream

Chapter 4: Back at the Dorm

Odd was laying in his bed, asleep. He was dreaming about Aelita. "Ahh..." he sighed in his sleep. "Aelita...Aelita..." In his dream he'd entered Lyoko and was running to Aelita. But something kept blocking his path. He couldn't quite distinquish it yet, but it was something about the size as him. Even so, it was very defensive and obviously did not want him to get through.

: He ran and ran, finally reaching Aelita. "Odd!" she cried out, sounding very terrified of whatever was keeping him from her.

"Aelita!" he yelled. "What's keeping me from you?"

"It's...it's..." she started.

"It's me," the thing finished. The thing stepped out of the shadows. It was Jeremie! Odd's mouth dropped open. "Aelita is my love, and you cannot have her! Just try to get to her!" Jeremie drew out a sword.

"Aelita!" he screamed.

"Odd!" she screamed in reply. "Look out!" Jeremie through his sword at Odd, piercing through his virtual self. Odd keeled over and knelt on the desert sand of Lyoko. He thought he heard Aelita crying.

"I love you, Aelita," he breathed, before he died. Aelita's cries still echoed... :

"Odd, wake up!" Ulrich shook Odd's shoulders. He'd returned from Yumi's house just then to hear Odd screaming Aelita's name. Odd jerked awake at Ulrich yelling in his ear.

"Aelita..." he sighed to himself, then blushed. "I mean, what are you doing waking me up in the middle of the night?"

"You were having a bad dream," Ulrich tried to explain. "Although I'm wondering about why you screamed Aelita's name, then said you loved her..." He looked at Odd's face. A stray tear slipped down his face. "Now you're crying..care to explain all of this?"

Odd sighed to himself. "I've been secretly in love with Aelita ever since the first day we found Lyoko," Ulrich's eyes widened slightly, but Odd simply continued. "When I found out that Jeremie had affections for her, I didn't want to start an argument and possibly a battle over her heart or something, so I kept it a secret. I started going out with Sam because she and Aelita have very similar eyes. Gosh, I love Aelita's eyes...but then it turns out that Sam was cheating on me with Theo. Also, Jeremie says that tomorrow he's going to tell Aelita that he loves her, seeing as the materialization is almost ready. I really don't want to get hurt again, but I just can't spring this on Jeremie, even though we've both known her just as long as the other..." Odd went on and on, all the time Ulrich patiently listened to him.

At around 3 o'clock Odd got finished with his rambling and started to cry again. "C'mon, Odd," Ulrich said. "First Yumi, now you...but I'm definitely _not _hugging you!"

"You hugged Yumi?" Odd's tears stopped, now he was interested in what had happened that evening. "What else did you do?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

"You're strange, Odd," Ulrich said to him.

"Fine, fine, but what happened?" Odd asked him, sounding very interesting in his explanation.

"I went to Yumi's house to apologize like I'd been advised to do. Ms. Ishiyama said that Yumi wasn't there and that they didn't know were she was. I found her and she was crying. She said that she was going through a confusing time, or something. Then we sat and talked a while. I hugged Yumi and convinced her to stop crying."

"That all?" Odd interrupted.

"Well..." A smile came to Ulrich's face.

"You _kissed_ her!" Odd assumed.

"Well, yes, but there's something even better."

"What's better than you kissing her?"

"She kissed me," He grinned. "I brought her to her house, then she ran right in the rain and kissed me on the cheek."

"Awww!" Odd sighed, causing Ulrich to blush. "So sweet..." _I just knew they'd get together someday! _He sat there with a dazed look on his face until Ulrich snapped in front of his face. "What huh? Oh hey, Ulrich! What's up?"

Ulrich shook his head at his **odd**friend (hehe I just hadta put that in hehe!). Then he glanced at the clock. "Well, it's 3:15. What do you wanna do now?" Ulrich asked him.

Odd yawned. "Go back to bed."

Ulrich couldn't resist, "Yeah, so you can dream about Aelita." Odd blushed a deep red. Ulrich's sides split with laughter. He just couldn't contain himself.

"Shut up, do you wanna wake up everyone in the dorm?"

"Oh so you don't think your crying did already?"

"Heh," Odd sighed, pulling the covers of his bed back over his head. Ulrich got off of Odd's bed and into his own. Pulling the covers over himself, he played back the events of that night through his mind.

_She kissed me! She really kissed me! And I had the courage to kiss her! Wow...Ahh, I love her so much...but when to tell her? Hmm... _He drifted off to sleep, still pondering how exactly he'd confess his love now.

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Sorry I haven't updated in a while, guys! I've been so busy with the research paper assignment at school, plus talent show try-outs and rehearsals. I promise I'll work harder to update once school lets out on June 8th. Well, I'll see y'all later, heh. Please review!


	5. Ch 5 Further Confessions, A Cry For Help

Chapter 5: Further Confessions and a Cry for Help

Jeremie sat in his dorm room, alone. _I can't believe it! I have a crush on the new girl, Starry. All this time I've thought that I loved Aelita, but I'm not so sure anymore. I can see something in Starry's eyes that I've never seen before. Is it love? I have no way to be sure. _He climbed into his bed and fell asleep.

A few hours later he awoke because of a knock on his door. He drowsily glanced at the clock. It read 8:07. He straggled out of bed and opened the door. There stood Odd. "Can I come in?" he asked politely, with a slight tone of urgency in his voice.

"Sure," Jeremie replied groggily. Odd walked in and he closed the door behind him. Sitting down on his bed, Jeremie asked him, "Now, what did you want?" There was a slight tone of rudeness in his voice, but Odd took no notice of this.

"Listen, Jeremie. I need to tell you something very important." _Hope Ulrich's suggestion was right..._

FLASHBACK

Odd woke up at 7:56. Ulrich was already up, and sitting up in his bed, writing in his diary. He noticed that Odd was awake. "G'morning," he said to him.

Odd yawned and sighed to himself. "Hmm, yeah...hi.." He yawned again, and Kiwi jumped up onto his bed, eagerly awaiting a pet from his master. He received this only after he'd climbed onto his lap and barked quietly. "Oh, hey Kiwi.." He pet him gently on his head, causing Kiwi to somewhat grin in pleasure.

"Odd, you need to tell Jeremie," Ulrich suddenly stated.

"What!" Odd exclaimed in reply. "You've got to be joking."

"No, I'm not. You had another dream about Aelita last night. I heard you muttering something about your 'long, lost love'."

Odd blushed. "So, what's that got to do with anything?"

"If Jeremie still plans to materialize Aelita today, you've got to tell him!"

"But.."

"No buts..you love her, right?"

"Right...but I don't want to ruin our friendship."

"I know, but still, if he can't accept your feelings, then what's the friendship worth in the first place?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, nevermind!" Ulrich practically shouted. Kiwi barked in alarm. Odd quieted him by gingerly rubbing his back. His dog sighed a contented sigh, and Ulrich continued. "If you really are friends, you need to tell him too! Friends don't keep things that are this important from their friends, no matter what the circumstance.."

"Well.."

"Besides, I'll never get enough sleep if I hear you screaming every night.."

"Oh, so this is all about you?"

"No, it's about you, Jeremie, Aelita, and your friendship with each other. The thing about me is just beside the fact that you really should tell him.."

"All right," he finally agreed.

END FLASHBACK

Odd continued, "Jeremie, I - I..." he stuttered.

"Yes, Odd?" Jeremie said with somewhat of a sarcastic edge in his voice.

"I love Aelita," Odd blurted out before he could stop himself.

A shocked look came to Jeremie's face, then he said, "Wow, Odd, I never knew.."

"No...I've been keeping it a secret all this time."

"But why?"

"When you first confided to us that you had feelings for Aelita, I didn't want my affections to get in the way, so..." He gave Jeremie the same explanation he'd given Ulrich.

"Wow.." Jeremie repeated. Suddenly they heard a beep coming from Jeremie's computer. He rushed over to it immediately. The Lyoko window popped up, and Aelita's voice could be heard.  
"Jeremie!" she cried, urgently. "XANA's launched an attack. He somehow knew that you wanted to materialize me, so I guess he wanted one last stand. He certainly is going all-out on this one, you've got to hurry and come to the factory right away!"

Jeremie and Odd's mouths gaped. "We've got to go help her!" was all Jeremie could manage to stutter. Odd still could not form words without much difficulty, he was in so much shock.

_What to do, what to do! My love is in trouble, and I have no idea if Jeremie still has feelings for her or not! _Odd thought to himself.

_This is just too much! I don't know if I really do love Aelita or not. Odd comes in and tells me that he does, in fact, love Aelita. Then XANA...and Aelita...and there's trouble! Oh gosh, we've gotta go right away! _Jeremie ran out the door, with Odd not far behind him.

Starry had heard all of this from her seat on a bench at one end of the dorm hallway. _I've got to go and help them out with this Aelita person. _She jumped up from her seat and followed Jeremie and Odd to wherever they were going.


	6. Ch 6 Ekahj?

Author's Note: Thanks for some of the great - and not so great - reviews. Althought it's good to receive constructive criticism. I'll try and make my men more manly, okay? Here's the next chappie, all! Hope you'll like it.

Chapter 6 - Ekahj?

Jeremie and Odd stopped by Ulrich's dorm room. They explained the situation to him, and he text-messaged Yumi. His message read: "XANA. All-out attack. Need help. Luv, U" He had felt the impulse tack the last sentence on, and had sent the message before he could stop himself. Then he followed Jeremie and Odd to the factory, while Starry followed not far behind. Yumi met up with them once they'd been at the factory for a few minutes.

They were trying to discuss how to save Aelita, when Starry walked out of the shadows and said. "I can help, you guys." They all stared at her in shock.

"How'd she get here?"Jeremie exclaimed, color coming to his cheeks.

"Must've followed us," Ulrich concluded.

"Yup," she agreed.

"So...what are we going to do?" Jeremie started.

"I said I could help!" Starry said again with a bit more edge in her voice.

"How?" Odd asked, eager for something to be done to save his love.

"Simple, I'll go to Lyoko with you," she stated matter-of-factly. Everyone stared at her.

"Okay...what?" Yumi managed to say.

"I've been to virtual worlds before - I know of another one not too far from Lyoko...but I'll tell you about that later on. Right now we've got to help Aelita, right, Odd?" She winked at Odd. His cheeks reddened, and Yumi gave him a questioning glance.

"Long story," Odd told her. "Tell ya later, okay?" She nodded.

"Now, how many scanners do you have, exactly?" Starry asked as if she'd been doing this kind of thing all her life.

"Uh, 3," Jeremie replied. 'Gosh, I hate it when I stutter in front of girls I like! Grr...' he mentally slapped himself and told himself to shape-up before it was too late.

"And how many should go to Lyoko?" Starry asked.

"Oh shoot!" Yumi suddenly exclaimed. "Today's Tuesday!"

"Uhh...so?" Odd questioned.

"It's the second day of school!" Yumi yelled at him. Odd gave a sheepish grin that seemed to say "oops". Yumi backed-off slightly, but still ended up yelling at him again. "How do you think we're going to save Aelita while we're supposed to be in school? Jim will get suspicious and go looking for us, or tell the principal, and either way we will get in big-trouble, and possibly give our long-kept secret away, when we were only 1 day away from materialization! ONE DAY!" Both Ulrich and Odd were sheepishly backing away from Yumi at this point. Jeremie cringed in his computer chair. Starry didn't even flinch. What was up with that girl?

"So then how are we going to pull this off, huh?" Jeremie was becoming very flustered, embarrassed, and confused, all at the same time. 'Girl's,' he sighed to himself. 'Sometimes I think that life would just be easier without them...' Starry and Yumi both glanced at him, and he continued. "XANA is trying to pull off the biggest attack of all time. We need more than 1 person to be in Lyoko to help Aelita out or she's not going to make it," at this he glanced over at Odd, who had a concerned look on his face, "but then there's school. Most of us need to be there, otherwise Jim will get too suspicious. Sure, one or two of us could try and pull off the infirmary excuse, okay. Then one of them would have to be me, seeing as we need someone to work the supercomputer, but then that would leave us with only 1 person to go into Lyoko. It's a lose-lose situation here."

"Not necessarily," Starry grinned.

"How's that?" Ulrich asked. All of them turned to look at her. She gave them all another big smile. Jeremie melted. 'I love her smile,' he thought dreamily to himself. A tint of blush came to his cheeks. Fortunately, no one noticed. They were all looking intently at Starry.

"Like I told you earlier, I've been to virtual worlds before," she started. They all nodded, prompting her to continue. "There's another virtual world close-by called Ekahj. It's not too far from Lyoko. I know another virtual being, as well as a few real people, who could help us out. They don't go to your school, and their school hasn't started yet, so they would be free. Sound good?"

"Yes, but how exactly would they be getting to Lyoko? They do have virtual cards, correct?" Jeremie hurriedly said. 'Obviously he would like to talk to her,' Odd thought to himself. 'Maybe he's gotten over Aelita after all...'

"Easy," Starry replied casually. "Jump through the portal from Ekahj to Lyoko. I'll get all of my friends from the other district and a couple virtual friends to help you guys out, that way most of you can be in school. Jeremie's going to have to stay here to control the super computer, because I have no experience whatsoever controlling a computer of this type. But the rest of you can go on ahead and go to school. Then, once school's over, the rest of you can come and help out if we're not done yet. Sound good?"

"Wow," was all Jeremie was able to utter. "That's awesome, Starry. You're so great. I mean, uhh..." He blushed a bright red, and Yumi stifled a giggle. Ulrich chuckled and Odd burst out laughing.

Starry looked over at Jeremie. "I get what you're saying," she said, giving him a slight smile and winking over at him, causing his cheeks to redden even more. Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were watching them with big grins on their faces. Odd was happy because he knew for sure now that Jeremie was over Aelita and he didn't mind that he had feelings for her. Ulrich was glad that Starry was helping them out so that they could save his best friend's "love". Yumi was overjoyed that Jeremie and Odd crisis was over, but then she frowned slightly. Last night had been the best night of her life. She only hoped that Ulrich shared the same feelings for her that she had for him.

Ulrich noticed her frowning. "You okay, Yumi?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, just great," she replied.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's nothing, really," she said, trying to hide her emotions, hoping her true feelings didn't show on her face.

"So, anyway," Starry spoke again. "I'm going to go 'round up the crew. I'll be back. Jeremie, why don't you come with me?" she asked purposely.

"Sure," he managed to stutter out. She giggled and grabbed his wrist, pulling him along behind her.

"We'll see you all later," she chirped.

"See ya," Jeremie said as Starry whisked him out the door.

Odd laughed again. "Have a great time, you two!" he teased.


	7. Ch 7 The Other Team

Chapter 7 - The Other Team

Starry ran down the street to her neighborhood, still pulling Jeremie along behind her. Finally she reached someone's house. Politely, she rang the doorbell. Almost in an instant, the door opened. There stood a tall boy with bright red hair and brown eyes. 'I never thought about the fact that Starry could have a boyfriend from her neighborhood. After all, she only transferred schools, she didn't move too. Aww, shoot! How could I have been so stupid to think she liked me? This is probably her boyfriend. Oh well. Might as well face facts.'

"Hello," the boy said cautiously. He glanced at Jeremie, and gave him a look that could kill. Jeremie gulped down his fear and managed to mumble a quiet "hi".

"Hey George," Starry said brightly, as if nothing was going on. "Jeremie, this is George. George, this is Jeremie." She looked from Jeremie to George, as if expecting to shake hands or something. George gave her a look that said "you've got to be kidding".

"And this is my girlfriend," George spat at Jeremie.

"Pfft, you've got to be kidding!" Starry exclaimed. "After that last fight I broke up with you, remember?"

"No, I don't, actually," George said, now glaring at her. "When was this?"

"Just last week. We had that awful fight, all of us. You, Melissa, Chrissi, and I. That's why I wanted to transfer schools. You guys were the only friends I had. Once I lost all of you, no one would even talk to me anymore. That's why I was eager to leave." She told the story of how the fight had occurred, obviously not really wanting to bring it up once again, but she wanted to make sure that George hadn't totally forgotten.

"Wait, if you had such a horrible fight, how are you going to get your friends to help you out if they won't even talk to you anymore?" Jeremie asked, looking directly at Starry.

"Well, after the fight and my transfer, Melissa and Chrissi regretted all that they'd done, and apologized. George never did even notice that I was gone. I don't even know why I came to his house, actually. Let's go get Chrissi, Melissa, and Jake, and forget about him." With that she closed the door on George and walked off, pulling Jeremie behind her once again. Now that he was more willing to walk with her, she relaxed her grip slightly and let him walk next to her. She walked down the street a way, then stopped at another house.

She knocked on the door three times, then it opened. A girl with shoulder-length blond hair greeted them. The girl glanced at Starry first, then at Jeremie, and noticed that she was holding onto his wrist. "Hi," she said, still glancing at Starry holding onto him, almost protectively. "What's up, Starry?"

"Just had a run-in with George," she said. "But that's not all. There's a problem. You know that world next to Ekahj that we found?"

"Uh-huh?" the girl nodded.

"Well, it seems that there's another team going to it, trying to save a virtual girl there. Her name's Aelita, and the world is called Lyoko. It's owned by another of evil, XANA. He's having a last-stand upon it today, so I'm trying to help them out. Oh, and this is Jeremie," she added, motioning to him and giving his arm a slight tug, never letting go of his wrist, "He runs the super-computer that works the scanners to Lyoko."

"Let me guess," the girl wondered. "You're in love with this Aelita girl, just like Starry is with Ja-"

"Shhhhh!" Starry shushed her. "I was never in love with him, and I don't even like him anymore! Besides, Jeremie isn't in love with her, his friend is. He's a strange boy named Odd. He has pointed blond hair with a purple splotch right in the middle."

"Wow," the girl sighed dreamily. "Sounds like quiet a hottie. Maybe if he ever falls out of love with that Aelita girl, he can come on over here!"

"I'll be sure and inform him of this, Chrissi," Starry chuckled. Chrissi grinned slightly.

"So, you want me to help you out to save this Aelita girl from XANA and get her outta Lyoko?"

"Basically, yes," Starry said.

"Hey, maybe if it works, we could try and materialize Jake too. Melissa's had a thing for him for quite a while now," Chrissi stated.

"Ohh, I see. I'll have to speak with her about this," Starry chuckled. "Let's go get her." Chrissi nodded and stepped out the door, closing it behind her. The three of them continued to walk down the street. Starry still held on tightly to Jeremie's wrist. A hint of red was still visible on his cheeks. He was wondering about all this. 'Ha, another girl that thinks Odd's hot - and she's never even seen him! Wow...then look at me, such a geek. Starry'll never like me. For all I know, she's still got a thing for this Jake guy. Or maybe she still has hidden feelings for that jerk, George. Who knows! All I know is that she'll never, in a million years, like a geek like me. Sure, she's almost holding my hand, but that's only cuz I don't this neighborhood well enough. Oh my gosh, she's almost holding my hand!' His cheeks became redder. Chrissi noticed this and giggled. "What's so funny?" Starry asked.

"Just a sec, boy," Chrissi said to Jeremie.

"His name's Jeremie," Starry noted.

"Ok then, just a sec, Jeremie," Chrissi said again, pulling Starry from him and over to the side. She whispered in her ear, "You were right, Jeremie's not in love with Aelita. He's totally got a thing for you!"

"You really think so?" Starry whispered back.

"Totally! You didn't see him blushing?"

"No...I don't really think he likes me. He's just never been that close to a girl before, mostlikely. I mean, no offense to him or anything, but I don't think any girls at his school like him. You know, like-like him. Still, I don't think he likes me."

"Yes-huh girl, trust me on this one. I can tell."

"Let's just keep going," Starry replied hurriedly, her cheeks reddening. She pulled Jeremie back over to the group and regained her hold on his wrist. She only hoped that Chrissi hadn't seen her blushing, or else she'd make a comment in from of Jeremie. Of course, she noticed, and stifled a giggle. Jeremie looked at her, puzzled. What was going on with those two? 'Girls,' he concluded. 'They've got a secret language or code or something. Wonder what that meant exactly...' He watched them. Starry responded to the giggle with one finger to her lips, shushing her. Chrissi just continued to laugh quietly.

Starry sighed to herself. 'There's no getting her to shut up. Well, now that she's concluded the obvious, might as well do the obvious because she knows the obvious is obviously true...' She casually slipped her hand down to hold Jeremie's hand. Then she continued walking on as if nothing had happened. Finally they reached Melissa's house. Starry knocked on the door twice with her free hand. Soon the door opened. Melissa answered the door. She was a girl of average height, and she had long black hair and piercing sky blue eyes. "What's up, girl?" Chrissi greeted her.

"Nothing, really. What's up with you two?" Melissa replied. She glanced at Starry, who was holding a strange boy's hand. 'So she's over Jake. Score! He's totally mine. No question.' Melissa looked at Starry questioningly, as if asking "who's the new guy?".

"Long story short, you know that other virtual world?" Starry started.

"Yeah?" Melissa prompted.

"Well, it's called Lyoko. The virtual inhabitant's name is Aelita. She's in danger because Lyoko's evil overlord, XANA, is having a final stand against the Lyoko team because they were planning to materialize Aelita today. This is the guy that runs the super-computer connected with Lyoko's scanners, Jeremie," at that she squeezed his hand slightly, and he gave Melissa a small wave, "I was thinking that maybe you, me, Chrissi, and Jake could somehow help out? What do you say?"

"Sure! Let's get our cards and head over to your house. Wait, shouldn't Jeremie have stayed at the Lyoko super-computer?" Melissa pointed-out.

"I'll get back there soon. Let me just see the cards that you were talking about. I'm intrigued," Jeremie stated in one breath.

"All-righty then," Melissa said. She hurriedly left the door, picked up something in her living room, then came back. In her hand she held a plastic card case. Inside were, what Jeremie estimated to be, about 50 cards. "Let's go." Melissa shut the door behind her and followed them all to Starry's house.


	8. Ch 8 Meeting Jake

Chapter 8 - Meeting Jake

Soon they arrived at Starry's house. She unlocked the door with a key from around her neck, and led them all downstairs to her room. "Here we are," Starry announced. Jeremie couldn't help but stare at her computer system.

"Wow, that's an awesome computer. What version is it? How much storage does it have on the harddrive?" Jeremie couldn't help but ask.

"Thanks," Starry replied. 'Whoa I never had let go of his hand! Oh well...' "It's version 5.7 and-"

"5.7!" Jeremie interrupted. "That's a rare version! How'd you get that?"

"My mom helps out at a computer and other technologies developement corperation. It's a very prestigeous job. She's honored that the corp chose her out of millions of other applicants. Since she's one of their best employees and hardest workers, they gave her this at an employee discount, plus an extra 25 off!"

"Cool!"

"Oh, and it's got about 75 GB of storage."

"Sweet! That's so much more than my comp. in the dorm. It's only got about 50."

"You know you can get it upgraded."

"Really? That'd be cool!"

"I could have my mom come over and hook you up with the latest version for that type of computer, along with a few bonus features and up to 30 extra GB's of storage."

"Awesome, that's really nice of you."

"No big," Starry replied. (Sorry, sorta got KP on the brain, tehe.) Then she reluctantly let go of his hand and headed over to her computer to boot it up. In a matter of minutes it was up and running. Jeremie walked over and looked over her shoulder as she worked. Soon a window popped up much like the Lyoko window, only it was different. It was a guy in the window. Jeremie couldn't help but glare at him. 'Who is that?' his mind asked, but he didn't dare voice aloud.

The boy was thinking the same thing, only he asked Starry. "Who is that guy?"

"He's my friend, Jeremie, from my new school."

"I see..." the boy said warily.

"But anyway, he and his friends need help, big time! There's another virtual world out there, called Lyoko. A girl named Aelita lives there, and the world is control by a thing called XANA. Well, XANA is staging one last stand before they materialize Aelita, seeing as they've got the program finally up and running. We need your help, and I've recruited Melissa and Chrissi as well, so that we can stop him and save Aelita." Jake seemed to sigh in relief at this information. 'Perhaps he assumes, like many, that Jeremie likes Aelita or something, just like I used to like him. I'll fill him in later,' Starry decided. "So can you help us?"

"Sure, but are you coming in person or through your smaller scanner?"

"I'm going to use the bigger scanner pods this time around. Should I come as well, or just Melissa and Chrissi?"

"You could come, I suppose. I am able to virtualize you via the scanner pods once you're in them. No problem. Just head over to the warehouse and I'll send you through."

"All righty," Starry agreed. "See you there." She closed the window and turned around to face Jeremie. He had an inquisitive look on his face. "That's Jake," she explained. "The world our team visits is called Ekahj. That's where Jake is trapped, a virtual being. The only one of any intelligence there. The rest are monsters, sent out by Levvi - Ekahj's evil overlord - to attack Jake."

"Does this Levvi ever try to take over the world?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes, quite frequently actually. We always have to go back in and fight to unlock the bridge to go back through time."

"On Lyoko we have to type in the code in towers throughout the different regions...wait, that's it!"

"Hmm?"

"So that's why disasters happen sometimes, but when Aelita checks it out, everything's calm on Lyoko. It would be Levvi causing everything else then, wouldn't it?"

"Ah, yes. And that's why sometimes things happen, and we scan our cards through to Ekahj, but it's peaceful. No monsters, strangely enough."

"So now the mystery is solved..." Jeremie said. "It's both evil virtual rulers. If only we could shut them both down!"

"Well, how bout this, we work on shutting down XANA today, and if we pull through-"

"-then we can shut down Levvi the next day, or days." Jeremie finished for her. She grinned.

"Okay all, you two go to the warehouse, I'll help Jeremie get back to the factory, then I'll follow to the warehouse. Y'all ready?" Melissa and Chrissi nodded. They headed out the door and down an alley to the warehouse where their scanner pods were.

"Where's Starry?" Jake asked, hacking through the intercom system at the warehouse.

"She's helping Jeremie find his way back to the factory, then she'll be back here to go virtual."

"Jeremie," Jake growled through clenched teeth.


End file.
